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Three Lipstick Soups – Pretty Darn Thai-a-licious!

I’m currently visiting Thailand and one of the things I wanted to do was take some authentic cooking classes here. I signed up for Pum’s Pigtails 5 hour Cooking Class which is in Patong, a 35 minute drive from Rawai Beach where I was staying.

I was welcomed by Pum and started my class with a nice Russian gal who has plans to open up a Thai Restaurant back in Russia. It was a great day learning about Thai Food, culture and cooking. We also had an informational tour at the fresh Banzaan Market and our guide (Pum’s second-hand fella in pic below), he was so fun and knowledgable. I learnt a lot from him about different fruits, herbs veggies and seafood.

For our full day of cooking class, myself and the Russian gal had to pick 5 dishes each to make that day. Of my five, I picked 3 soups (Pum calls them Green Lipstick, White Lipstick and Red Lipstick). The soups were the highlight of my day. I think I want to make them all together at one time in the future as a soup trio whenever I have some friends over. They look so pretty – just like makeup!

We had the opportunity to make green curry right from scratch (which was used in the Green Lipstick soup). It sure beats jarred green curry any day! Below is the final output after we mortar together green chilies, galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, Thai shallot, salt, Thai sweet basil with vegetable oil. Looks so good and rustic doesn’t it?!

And making the green curry got me super excited to try when I am back home. The Green curry paste can also be used for many other dishes in Pums wonderful cookbook (Lazy Cuisine), you can get it here online. Here’s a video on how we mixed it all together – fun stuff!

Our school kitchen was very clean, modern and functional (pic below). It can accommodate up to 6 students at a time. We were fortunate to have it to ourselves, but most times it is a full class, I heard.

I do recommend taking her Pigtails cooking class or any others – Pum is very passionate and cute..even when she reprimanded me to “be patient” when I was jumping the gun on some areas.

Below are the three wonderful soups I made with my personal ratings for each. My favorite was the Green Lipstick, then the Red Lipstick and then the White Lipstick. All of them had great freshness and goes well with Jasmine rice on the side. Pum showed us how easy and fast it is to make all three. The key is to have the ingredients and mise en place!

Important Note: The recipes below are a single serving. Also , if you don’t have a Chinese spoon, the measurement is approximately 1.5 tablespoons, so adjust accordingly.

Gaeng Kheo Wan Gai – Green Lipstick Soup(Green Curry Soup)

Ingredients:

Chicken (sliced) 1 handful

Coconut Milk 100ml

Water 100ml

Vegetable Oil 1 Chinese spoon

Green Curry Paste 1 Chinese spoon

Fish Sauce 2 Chinese spoons

Sugar 1 Chinese spoon

Green Beans 1 handful

Kaffir Lime Leaves 2

Instructions for Gaeng Kheo Wan Gai – Green Lipstick Soup:

At low heat in a pot, mix well the oil and green curry paste.

Then add the chicken (or vegetables: Green beans, carrots, baby corn)

Stir until all is half-cooked.

Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar. Stir well.

Add the water and green beans. Bring to a boil and immediately pour into a bowl and garnish with kaffir lime leaves.

Soup Mistress Rating for Gaeng Kheo Wan Gai – Green Lipstick Soup:

Healthy (+ slimming + low sodium): (4/5)
Presentation: (4.25/5)

Taste: (5/5)

Tom Kha Gai – White Lipstick Soup

(Coconut Milk Soup)

Ingredients:

Chicken (sliced) 1 handful

Coconut Milk 100ml

Water 170ml

Galangal (sliced) 4-5 slices

Lemon Grass (cut as an inch) 1/2 stalk

Kaffir Lime Leaves 2

Thai Shallot (pressed gently) 1

Small Red Chilies (pressed gently)

Fish Sauce 2 Chinese spoons

Sugar 1 Chinese spoon

Lime Juice 2 Chinese spoons

Instructions for Tom Kha Gai – White Lipstick Soup:

In a pot, add the coconut milk and bring to half boiling, the add the chicken and stir until the meat is half-cooked.